Reference guide to Africa: a bibliography of sources

Abstract

Reference guide to Africa: a bibliography of sources; by Al Kagan. Lanham, MD, Scarecrow Press, 2nd edn. 2005, ix, 223pp. ISBN 0-810-85208-X U.S.$57.00. This is the new edition of Reference guide to originally compiled by Al Kagan & Yvette Scheven. (Lanham, MD, Scarecrow Press, 1998. viii, 262pp.) It is dedicated to Yvette Scheven and continues to contain many of her contributions to the original edition including her notable discussion of bibliographies in chapter 1. The whole enterprise originally grew out of a course on the Bibliography of Africa, set up and taught by Yvette Scheven at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign from 1976 to 1992 and by Al Kagan from 1993 to date. The introduction tells us that the work organizes and explains the most important resources for the study of Africa [and] is intended for students, teachers, librarians and serious researchers. There are some 793 numbered entries (a number of sources receive multiple entry, including ARD, but equally a number of annotations to numbered entries refer to additional sources, and well over 800 must be discussed in total). Part I covers General sources: chapter 1, Bibliographies & indexes; 2, Guides, handbooks, directories & encyclopedias; 3, Biography; 4, Primary sources; 5, Government publications; 6, Statistics. Part II contains chapters on Subject sources covering altogether seventeen different topics including Agriculture; Development; Environment; Folklore; Geography & maps; History; Languages; Literature; Politics & government; Religion and Women. Each chapter has two or three paragraphs of text setting the scene for the topic being covered, followed by annotated entries for research guides, surveys, directories, indexes & abstracts, bibliographies and periodicals, finishing with appropriate Library of Congress subject headings for use in searching online library catalogues (the introduction says U.S. catalogues but of course LCSH is widely used also in the U.K. and elsewhere). Sheila Allcock reviewing the first edition in ARD, 81, 1999, 81-82 was critical of Internet sources being given a separate chapter rather than being discussed in every chapter as relevant, and this is now the case. Unfortunately three of the key electronic sites for African reference appear to receive no mention, although all are edited by Kagan's colleagues in the U.S.: Africa South of the Sahara - selected Internet resources, maintained by Karen Fung at Stanford University Libraries; An A-Z of African studies on the Internet, maintained by Peter Limb at Michigan State University and African studies Internet resources, maintained by Joe Caruso at Columbia University Library. …